What we will see is the world's best players at Ridgewood Country Club course in Paramus, N.J. Play begins Thursday in the first event of the four-week FedEx Cup playoffs. There are 122 players in this week's field.

A bit about The Barclays:

— Ridgewood will be site of a FedEx Cup event for the third time. The others were 2008 and 2010. The course is a combination of the 18 toughest holes from among the three nine-hole courses that make up the venue. For this tournament, it plays as a par-71 over 7,340 yards.

"We kind of looked at the facility as a whole, and we wanted to lengthen the golf course a little bit to get a bigger event," club head pro Reasoner told the New York Post.

"This golf course is so good it deserves to be on that stage," Reasoner said. "The course itself deserves to be on that stage."

Reasoner, we're told, is the brother of former NHL player Marty Reasoner.

Vijay Singh won the 2008 Barclays. In 2010, Matt Kuchar won on the first playoff hole.

— Rory McIlroy, Jimmy Walker and Bubba Watson make up the elite threesome of the first two rounds. They are the world's top-ranked golfers. McIlroy won three consecutive tournaments, starting with the Scottish Open. Then, he won the British Open and the PGA Championship.

McIlroy is the favorite to win the Cup, pegged at 5-to-2, according to The Linemakers. He also is a 4-to-1 favorite to win The Barclays.

McIlroy also gets the favorite designation from the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J. The publication says to watch out for the following players, listed by their world rankings: Kuchar, No. 4; Rickie Fowler, No. 16, Jason Day, No. 34; and Kevin Streelman, No. 39.

Fowler, 25, is an interesting player to watch. He finished in the top 10 in all four majors this year, tying for second in the U.S. Open and British Open and tying for fifth at the Masters. He was tied for third at the PGA. If he is going to take the next big step, this could be the event. Trouble is, Fowler hasn't won in more than two years, and that was his only Tour victory.

Mickelson, a five-time major winner, was runner-up to McIlroy at the PGA Championship. But he readily acknowledges his problems.

"I know that I've made great strides this year in driving the golf ball ... but it's been a terrible year for my wedge and short irons. I also had a very poor year putting," he told reporters this week.

Mickelson, 44, hasn't won this season. He has four tournaments to snap his victory drought. He hasn't come up empty the past 10 years.

"Now I have to play well this week and in the FedExCup to really make the year salvageable," said Mickelson, a 42-time winner on the PGA Tour.

Henrik Stenson is the defending FedEx Cup champion. Scott comes in at 12-to-1 in Vegas odds. Stenson is 15-to-1.

— Expect to hear about the "five-and-dime" hole. The fifth hole in this year's layout, it got its moniker from members who played the 291-yard par-4 with a 5-iron off the tee and a 10-iron on the approach. The 10 is now the wedge.

— Stenson won this tournament last year when it was played at Liberty National. It was one terrific finish to the Cup events, a playoff that saw him beat Tiger Woods, Gary Woodland, Justin Rose and Graham DeLaet by a stroke.

— Growth of the FedEx Cup and The Barclays means there will be a strong fan experience, with entertainment around the course and larger and more comfortable seating for fans. What did you expect from the Big Apple?

— This is a home course for Morgan Hoffmann, 25, from Wyckoff, N.J.

"It’s so great being home, and sleeping in my own bed," he told The Record of Bergen, N.J. "Coming out here and having a support system, it’s a dream come true."

Hoffmann almost missed his homecoming. He didn't make the cut last week at the Wyndham Championship but survived in the rankings. He finished No. 124; the tournament includes the top 125, minus players who withdraw.

— Woods missed three months of the season recovering from back surgery and then re-injured himself. He didn't come close to finishing among the top 125 who qualified for the playoffs.

Jason Dufner is No. 57, though he is out indefinitely with a neck injury. Steve Stricker is at No. 103 and withdrew because of a hip injury that will turn his part-time schedule into no schedule at all for the next few months.

Stricker was a long shot to make the Tour Championship, though this ends his streak of playing in every Tour Championship since the FedEx Cup began in 2007. Phil Mickelson (No. 45) and Hunter Mahan (No. 62) are the others who have made it the past seven years.